JaF@Posterous

According to Nielsen, Barack Obama sends his 26 words VP announcement sms to 2.9 million American. They said it was the single largest mobile marketing event in the US to date.

 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10025596-36.html

Just wondering, could he be sending it from his trusted Blackberry? :) Well, hopefully, in the near time, he would be sending his first presidential sms :) 

Talk about sms campaign, what Obama did was actually nothing new. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sent a mass sms on June 28th, 2005 as part of a nationwide anti drugs campaign. I have no idea how many people received the sms, but I would bet it was more than 2.9 million people.

I still recall my mom's surprised reaction upon receiving an sms from THE President. She proudly saved the number in her phone book under: "President SBY". The number was +62811109949. At the same day, millions of people replied to the number and from what I heard, the system went down for a while. It turned out that it was SBY's personal number.

Later, the number was changed to 9949 (his birthday, btw) and are open to every Indonesian as means of direct communication the President. 

..and guess what? He personally replied to every single sms he received.. !

Okay.. I'm kidding for the later part. It was just an automated reply which says "Terima kasih atas partisipasi anda. Pesan anda telah kami terima - Presiden RI" which means "Thank you for your participation. We have received your message - President of Indonesia"

But hey, it's still a reply from the president.. Not THE president, though.. :)

"These guys had to fly twenty hours to be here just for this one gig..." Yes, they did! Indonesia's very own Beatles cover band, G-Pluck performed at the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool on August 23rd. Check out the video, where they perform Twist an Shout and I Feel Fine.. I actually shed into tears watching the video.. Man, I sure would pay to see them perform back home in Indonesia. Thanks to my friend Bowie for posting this video.. You guys are a bunch of lucky bastards.. hahahaha.. I meant that in a good way, of course, mate.. :)